Match Report

Tranmere 0 Wycombe 3

Tranmere suffered a 3-0 home defeat against Wycombe Wanderers and missed the chance to close the gap to League One safety.

The visitors opened the scoring on 15 minutes and they were in the driving seat for much of the opening half.

Rovers improved in the second, but Alex Revell's strike put Wycombe back in control and they added a third on the counter attack late on.

There were two changes to the side that lost at Walsall, with Paul McLaren returning from suspension to take the place of Gareth Edds in midfield and Zoumana Bakayogo coming in for Ben Gordon at left back. Andy Robinson missed out on a first appearance at Prenton Park in a Tranmere shirt due to a groin injury.

A couple of early corners and plenty of territory saw the visitors dominate the opening few minutes but the game's first shot came for Rovers, with Craig Curran intercepting a stray Wycombe pass 25 yards out before curling beyond the top right corner of the goal in front of the Cowshed Stand.

After Tranmere failed to make the most of Bas Savage's flick on inside the Wycombe six yard box from a Bakayogo throw in on 15 minutes, the visitors raced up the other end and took the lead. A long throw from Tom Heaton released Kevin Betsy up the left wing and his cross eventually found Alex Revell who shot low past Luke Daniels from 12 yards.

Ian Thomas-Moore tested Heaton with a dipping volley from 30 yards on 18 minutes and a minute later the striker saw a low effort deflect just past the far post from the left side of the area following good work form McLaren.

Ash Taylor headed straight at Heaton from McLaren's corner in the 32nd minute while at the other end Goodison cleared a dangerous low ball from Gareth Ainsworth.

Taylor sliced a shot wide from outside the area on the stroke of half time and Bakayogo sent a left foot attempt wide from 18 yards in injury time, the last effort of the first 45 minutes for Rovers.

McLaren fired over the bar inside the first 30 seconds of the second half following a quick pass from Chris McCready and Rovers won a free kick in a dangerous position a few minutes later following good work from John Welsh as the home side raised the tempo. A training ground move almost brought its reward with Taylor heading against the post but the assistant referee's flag was raised for offside.

Tranmere's promising start to the half continued on 50 minutes as Thomas-Moore forced Heaton into a save with a header from McLaren's cross and the keeper had to punch clear moments later as McLaren whipped in another dangerous ball.

Thomas-Moore curled narrowly wide of the far post on 58 minutes, seconds before Edds replaced Chris McCready, with Marlon Broomes moving into the centre of defence.

Savage shot at Heaton from the edge of the area on 62 minutes and soon after Curran was replaced by Chris Shuker in Rovers' second substitution of the evening.

However, Rovers' hopes were dealt a blow on 68 minutes. Daniels' clearance was charged down by Revell and despite the keeper's efforts to win the ball back, the Wycombe striker turned 30 yards out and lobbed into an empty net.

With just under 21 minutes remaining Kithson Bain came on for Welsh but the striker's introduction had little impact as Rovers found chances hard to come by.

A back post header from Shuker brought a save out of Heaton, but as Tranmere threw men forward late on, Wycombe had chances on the counter attack, with their third goal coming on 86 minutes. Betsy held off the challenge of Edds on the left side of the area, floated the ball over Daniels and Matt Bloomfield headed in at the far post.